


Mix-Tape

by 13eylla



Category: Homestuck
Genre: M/M, Stuff is like alluded to, like nothing is described but masturbation is alluded to so just, omg I need to write more of this i suck im so sorry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-04
Updated: 2015-06-04
Packaged: 2018-04-02 19:14:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4071451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/13eylla/pseuds/13eylla
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>We all know the way it goes. Tension builds, and one of our favorite boys has to confess in some way.<br/>I figure since Karkat is so into romantic comedies that he would have to come across the "mix tape" trope. Good old confessions through music playlists.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is, well, this is my first story which is probably gonna make people be like "bruh I don't wanna read this shit by some amateur" which is fine because I know that feel. Do what you gotta do.  
> If you find any glaring errors, please tell me politely in the comments.

Dave sat in the kitchen with Rose, doodling as she wrote notes about the game, which she considered to be very serious.  
The strider honestly no longer cared about sburb, despite being urged to by the others. Two years into their trip hurtling through space on a rock, he simply couldn't bring himself to give a fuck. Yes, he could take things seriously when he had to, but that didn't mean that he should spend his free time worrying about it. Dave couldnt see the point of dwelling when he knew better than anyone that things couldn't be changed. Nothing could fix all that had gone wrong for him and the friends that e had and might have made.  
So, he sat next to his ecto-sister, doodling and listening to music, hoping for no interruptions.

Dave felt a tap on his shoulder, and slid his headphones to his neck as he turned. Of course someone was interrupting just now. But, after seeing who it was, he let a smile flash on his face, not needing to hide how he felt under a steely look. "What's up Karkat?" Dave asked, more than happy to see the troll standing before him. For a few days prior, Karkat had been spending a lot of time alone in his own little corner of the meteor, so it was good to see him walking around.

Karkat seemed to shift almost nervously, a blush dusting his cheeks, which was not a common happenstance. The troll certainly became flushed whenever he was yelling; it was a wonder he wasn't killed as a young troll he showed his blood in his face so much. Dave couldn't help but to take the opportunity he was presented with, asking "You aren't nervous to see me, are you?"

Karkat gave a dry laugh, before suddenly jumping into words. "I have been looking into human romance and customs and noticed that people will give gifts in order to show appreciation and," Karkat cleared his throat before continuing, "affection towards one another."  
Rose straightened in her chair. The Vantas was not graced with the gift of speaking quietly.

Dave waited for the troll to continue, quirking an eyebrow. "Fuck, okay, basically what I am saying is that I made you something because you're honestly pretty fucking cool and we're friends. That seems to be what humans do, so I did it." Karkat said, holding out a small CD, "Here. I put together a collection of songs for you to listen to, which humans seem to call a 'mixtape'."

Dave took the disc and watched almost in awe as Karkat quickly shuffled out of the room, even more pink than before. He turned to Rose, and all she could give was a chuckle and ask, "Well, are you planning on listening to it or not?" as Dave bolted to get to his laptop.

\------

Karkat quickly abandoned the kitchen after handing the compact disc to Dave. He had just turned the corner down the hall when he heard running steps.

He felt his blood pusher speed up slightly in anxiety until he realized the steps were going in the opposite direction.  
Karkat could not believe how sensitive he was being about this. He made a gift for his bro, that's all.... A gift that included songs saying things like "We should be lovers" and "Why do I love you?"  
What had he been doing the past few days, what had he been thinking, why did he waste all of his time on this one stupid thing?

"Fuck, fuck, fuck" he mumbled to himself as he returned to his respite block. He entered, and locked the door behind him, walking past the recording equipment he had alchemized, and sitting down in a pile of blankets, pillows, and clothing (which were admittedly not all his.)

Karkat's mind was glued to what Dave might think once he started listening to the playlist. He was having serious doubts about this. The two of them had certainly flirted before and made jokes, and they had been intimate with each other, with the cuddling and Dave falling asleep on the troll's lap. Their relationship seemed to Karkat to include all of the classic romantic comedy tropes. But, what if Dave really viewed him as just a friend, and that was how he acted around everyone?

Shit, Karkat really needed to ask people. He should have asked before giving the disk to him. He chastised himself in his head. If he had spent so much time actually working on this, why hadn't he taken the time to think about it more prior to that?

Karkat had never experienced romantic attraction quite in the same way as he did then. He had had a moirailship, but that fell to pieces, and the situation with Terezi had devolved into more of vacillation before becoming a much better friendship. With Dave it wasn't quite flushed, but definitely wasn't platonic either.

Karkat let out a large breath, just needing to relax and calm down. He felt certain what he had done was extremely stupid and cliché. But, since he had given the CD to the Strider, all he could do was wait.  
And distract himself from his swirling pan.

He put his hands on his face and through his hair and finally to his small horns, where they remained, rubbing at the bases. He sighed to himself; if there was anything that could help him relax, it would be to pay attention to himself and nothing else. Not that he would be able to keep his thoughts away from Dave in the process.

\-----

Dave rushed into his room. A gift from Karkat Vantas. He received a god damned gift from Karkat Vantas, and one that had to do with music at that. The Strider had certainly made Karkat listen to his own music in the past, so he supposed that the troll was just returning the favor.

The only thing Dave could think about, though, were all of the movies that he had "slept through" while in reality just wanting an excuse to lie his head on his lap. He had payed attention, as stupid as the films were, and had learned some of the more common tropes - one of them being gifts, particularly mix tapes.

He let out a breath and said to himself, "Cool as a cucumber" and put the cd into his laptop. He put on headphones, and almost felt his heart stop in anticipation as the playlist loaded, and began automatically.

He heard the intro music to the first song, then a rap started, making him chuckle to himself. He supposed that as it turned out, Vantas might know him pretty damn well. He let the music continue, listening as the songs went from suggestive and aggressive to loving and calm.

Wait.  
Suggestive? Loving? Dave choked on the air, breaking out coughing.  
This was not just a gift from Dave's best bro. This was a gift from someone who /liked/ Dave. Someone who loved, or maybe hated, him.

"Oh, man." Dave leaned backwards in his chair and propped his sunglasses on the top of his head, staring at his computer. The realization slowly set in, and was simply confirmed by the second to last song, which was Karkat's own voice.  
Karkat wrote a song for him.

Dave felt himself smile. As cheesy and stupid as Karkat's romcoms were, they had certainly taught him how to woo someone. Dave could practically imagine Karkat pouring over his movies to find the perfect way to confess. God that troll was such a dork.

Dave shook his head to himself. He had to go see Karkat. Go and talk to him, even if he didn't know what to say. He decided to get up and go see him once the songs finished - and then he got to the last one.  
That accursed last song.  
That accursed last song, with Karkat's voice reaching a peak with the words "I want you".

Dave shuddered at his voice, letting the song play out, and then sat in silence with his headphones still on his head. The only sound being his own breathing, his own heart beating, and the echoing in his ears of the zipper at the end of the song. His face was red hot at that.

He listened to the song again, and again, and let his mind dwell on Karkat, and how he must have looked while he-  
The Strider let himself do what he needed to do as he listened to that last song on repeat for as long as he took.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who's back and better than ever!  
> This is more of a bridge than anything else but I mean, whatever. I like making Dave the bad guy sometimes.

Karkat jumped into some clothing, captchalogued some, well, items, and quickly absconded into the nearest bathroom.  
He looked at his reflection, and realized he was smiling from the endorphins rushing through his pan. He cleared his throat, and mind, washing his hands of the redness that he knew would stain his skin.  
He ran a hand through his hair, which was slick on his forehead. At that point, Karkat knew that he would have to face Dave, and find out what happened; he had to find out how Dave felt. He braced himself against the counter, relishing in the sweet bliss of ignorance for a moment before standing up straight and reaching for the door.  
As he grabbed the handle, he felt it turn out from under his hand, and when he looked back up he was face to face with Dave. The troll hadn't thought to lock the door, as he was simply washing his hands.  
Karkat quickly took in how absolutely giddy the blonde looked, before the smile was quickly corrected off of his face.  
"Fuck" the troll said under his breath, looking away quickly. Of course this was who he would run into. He got the lump out of his throat, saying a simple "Hey, Strider."  
Dave waited a moment before motioning and asking "Do you think you could move some? As fun as it is standing here and all, I'd like to get into the bathroom." Karkat realized he hadn't budged an inch since opening the door, and quickly slid to the side in order to allow Dave to pass.  
The Strider went directly to the sink, Karkat turning around to look at him. He cleared his throat, not managing any words.  
Dave spoke for him, assuring him that "The mixtape was pretty good." He paused for a moment, weighing his options, before continuing, "really liked that last song."  
Why did Dave have to be so hard to read? Karkat couldn't believe that a time like this was when the blonde decided it would be a good idea to stay completely monotone. He simply continued to stare at Dave, waiting for more than that small snippet of information.  
"You know I have some pretty good recording equipment if you would want to use it." Dave said, feeling awkward as the silence dragged on.  
"Are you fucking kidding me, Strider?" Karkat put a hand on his face, trying to keep himself collected. "You can't just neglect to address the point that is as loud and clear as a thousand lusii's screams as they are dropped into the mouth of a tyrian horror terror."  
Dave rolled his eyes; Karkat's excessive similes would never cease to amaze him. He dried his hands on a towel, dropping it back on the counter as he approached the troll, who was still standing in the doorway.  
"I'm not ignoring anything," Dave started, knowing exactly how to rile Karkat up, "it's just that the one thing that is filling my mind is that satisfying 'zip' right at the end of the song. Pretty hard to miss it."  
Karkat's expression could only be described as absolutely scandalized. He had bared his emotions to Dave, and this was what he got. His cheeks and chin to the tips of his ears turned bright red as he spat out "Fuck you. I knew this was a terrible idea you god damned bulge muncher. Get back to me when you learn how to respect the people who care about you. Or just stay the /hell/ away."  
Karkat pushed the blonde away as he quickly fled the small block to run back to his own. He slammed the door, locking it behind him, and turned to the recording equipment. The troll couldn't believe what he had done, couldn't believe how stupid he was. He kicked over the parts of his recording set up, and buried himself into the blankets on his rectangular reclining platform.

\-----

Ever since the two had become friends, and even before that, Dave had always desired something more. Even when they didn't get along, he couldn't deny that he found Karkat immensely attractive. From the tips of his nubby horns down to his padded toes, the Strider was infatuated.  
And now that he had been literally handed the opportunity to act on it, he had thrown it away with his own inability to act like an actual person. Dave sat down on the edge of the bathtub with his face in his hands. He had to stop this cycle of social incapability.  
How did Karkat want him to act? How was he supposed to be straight and genuine with him after he had been trying to hide it for so long? He never wanted to ruin their friendship, but he had just done exactly that.  
Even when he knew that Karkat felt the same, he couldn't bring himself to acknowledge his own feelings. He couldn't get over the stigmas of a race that no longer even existed.  
If he couldn't even accept himself, then how could he expect anyone else to?  
He heard a knock at the wall, despite the door being flung wide open, and quickly shoved away the urge of tears in his eyes. He looked up to see Kanaya, her green and gold eyes staring right back at him, eyebrows furrowed in concern.  
"I heard shouting from down the hall. Is everything alright?" She asked, with clear sincerity in her voice.  
Dave had to take a moment to gather himself before responding quietly, "Relationship shit. Or really, the complete and utter failure of a relationship shit."  
The troll simply shook her head, sitting down next to him. "I distinctly remember you giving me advice on courting rose, when we were 6 and only talking on trollian." She adjusted her skirt, continuing, "I would be more than willing to return the favor."  
Dave held his hands up to her, trying to deny any need of help. "Listen, I appreciate it and all but I really don't-"  
"David Strider. I am not going to listen to any sort of muscle beast shit spilling from your talk spout." Dave stopped in his tracks, the dregs of a word still rolling off of his tongue. "Now, you need to listen. Unless you are completely honest and direct, Karkat will doubt your feelings. You. Must. Tell. Him. With sincerity!"  
The human sighed, adjusting his glasses. "Maryam, it is way too late for me to do anything. I already screwed it up and it is highly fucking dubious that I could fix it."  
"Sorry to rain on your self-pity parade, but I'm not going to allow you to throw your relationship to the wayside just because you're worried. You are a knight. Start acting like one." And with that, she was gone, leaving the Strider to gather his resolve.

**Author's Note:**

> I'll probably post more chapters if anybody likes it.  
> Or even if nobody likes it.  
> Either way it has a 95% chance of happening you're welcome.


End file.
